The Effects of Mexico-U.S. Migration on the Intergenerational Educational Mobility of Youth in Mexico

This paper studies the role of U.S. migration on the intergenerational educational mobility of non-migrant youth in Mexico by using data from the 10% sample of the 2000 Mexican Census to compare the educational attainment of youth ages 13 to 20 to that of their parents. Classic models of status attainment suggest that family background is a strong determinant of children educational outcomes. Household migration is expected to positively influence education through its impact on socioeconomic status. However, living in a place with high migration prevalence has been associated with schooling discontinuation and an orientation towards U.S. labor markets. Results show that the positive effects of migration in the household depend on the socioeconomic conditions of the community. In less developed areas, migration in household has a stronger impact on intergenerational educational mobility. In contrast, higher migration prevalence in the community is associated with lower probabilities of intergenerational educational mobility. Additional work explores the stronger impact of migration in poor areas by conducting split sample analyses by level of community development to better understand the interplay between community characteristics and migration influences on educational mobility.